Container for food products



Patented Apr. 1, 1924.` Y

UNITED STATES A y v1,488,634v PATENT OFFICE..

o'rIs n Dunant, or BEVERLY, nsaacnusn'r'rs. consuma ron :Econ rnonuc'rs application ma ma a4, im. semi no. 627.489.

To all whom it may coment.

Be it known that I, Oris EMERSON DUN HAM, resid' at Beverly, in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts post-office address Page & Shaw, Inc., ambridge,

Mass), a citizen of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Containers for Food Products, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a unique box or vial, particularly adapted for use in connection with food products, such as candy, chocolate, nuts, fruits, biscuits, etc., and which presents the desirable qualities or characteristics of maximum transparency, thinness, and lightness in weight, of insolubility, of non-brittleness and non-susceptibility to atmospheric chan es, and of high lustre or polish.

A ighly transparent box or vial for food products, such as candy, is desirable; but, to be entirely practical, it should resent all the characteristics enumerated a ve. As an illustration, a transparent carton, such as a vial or cylindrical box, containing hard candy, of bright, contrasting colors, presents an attractive novelty, which finds a ready market. The commercial world has made various attempts to place before the public such a novelty package. For Y instance, waxed paper bags, containing various food roducts, have been on sale for a long time; but, on account of the great iiexibi ity of waxed pa er, it is obviously unsuitable for anything ut substantial] flat containers. Again, gelatine boxes, via etc., have been proposed, and arey in use. for certain purposes; but they are readily susceptible to atmospheric changes, and are, also, brittle in cold weather, so that they are extremely fragile and are thus not perfectly adapted for the use to which the box or vial o my invention is intended.

My invention resides in the utilization of a highly transparent material, whose base is cellulose, preferably, a cellulose acetate or a non-camphor cellulose. The invention is also concerned with the problem of the best method of making `up flat cellulose blanks into box or vial form.- Other phases of the invention will appear as the specication proceeds.

The accompanying drawing discloses the invention embodied in a cylindrical box or vial. Briefly described:

Figure 1 1s a view in perspective of the vial constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a view in central longitudinal section thereof, with the cap or cover removed;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken on the plane of the section line 3 3, Fig. 2, lookin in the direction of the arrows indi- 4cated t ereon; and

sectional view Figure 4 is a fragmentary htl died s ig y mo of a vial provided with a form of disk. v

Referring, now, in detail, to the drawing, and, first, to Figs. l to 3 thereof:

The body portion of the cylindrical box or vial is made up from a si le flat sheet of highly transparent materia the base of which is cellulose, preferably a cellulose acetate, or a non-camphor cellulose, and which material, as previousl noted, possesses the charactertistics o high transparency, insolubility, non-brittleness, and non-susceptibility to atmospheric changes, and whic is capable of being made into relatively thin sheets of no appreciable weight without sacrificing the requisite strength and durability for the purpose which I have in view. Sheets made of this material are caplable of being rinted in colours and hig ly embossed, w 'ch adds greatly to the value of such material -for commercial u when made up into vials, or the like, for t e rece tion and display of merchandise. Such ce lulose material, also is susceptible of being made in any desired colour, thus making it possible to rovide containers embodyin a wide range o colors.

In translatin a at sheet of such material into tubu ar form, a cylindrical inandrel or former may conveniently be used, around which the operator bends the sheet to form the tubular body portion l of the cylindrical box or vial. The overlapping ends of the cylindrically-bent sheet are then suitably secured together, refer-ably by an a propriete adhesive. or this purpose, t e operator preferably applies adhesive along one longitudinal edge of the sheet, before folding the latter around the mandrel. The most advanta ous adhesive which I have found, for use 1n connection with my cellulose sheets, is glacial acetic acid (99% pure), to which has been added ten drops of ormic acid (85% lpure) for each ounce of acetic acid. By t e use of such an adhesive, the

overlapping portions 2, 2 of the body portapering tion 1 are iirmly united, against accidental or unpremeditated separation, and the use of .such adhesive is unobjectionable from the standpoint of the production of a sanitary contalner. v

For the production of a cylindrical box or vial of a maximum capacity of four ounces, sheets of this cellulose material having a tlsiittvknessof only .005 of an inch may be u The bottom of the cylindrical box may be closed by a disk 3, which, from the standpoint of cheapness, may be of cardboard of suitable thickness for the purpose, but which may. be of the same material as the body portion 1. If the disk be of the cellulose material mentioned, then it should be of suitable thickness to afford the requisite peripheral area for the application of the adhesive thereto, and, consequently, in most cases, would be of greater thickness than the sheet used to form the bod portion 1.

Besides being cheaper, card ard disks lend a certain degree of rigidity and stabliiy to the container, which is not presente cell ose material hereinbefore mentioned, unless such transparent disks be made of considerable thickness.

If desired, the disk, whether of paper or of the particular cellulose material mentioned, may be provided with a peripheral fiange 3', as shown in Fig. 4, and the adhesive applied between this flange and the adjacent portion of the inner surface of the tubular body portion 1.

The cylindrical box is provided, at its top, with a suitable slip-closure, preferably comprising a disk 4 and a endent sleeve or skirt 5. In constructin t is slip-closure, it is convenient to use a cy indrical mandrel or former, of suitable diameter, preferably taperin toward one end thereo The operator fo ds a fiat strip of the particular cellulose material hereinbefore described into tubular form, around this mandrel, adhesive (preferably of the nature previously described) havin previously been applied along one end o the strip. A tubular body, with overla ping, adhesivel secured ends 6, 6, is there y formed, whic is slightly tapering toward one end thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. As this tubular body or skirt 5 is of a size such that the end having the larger diameter makes a snug frictional t with the body portion 1, when the skirt is slipped thereover, it will be seen that the construction of the skirt has the eect o very closely confining or constricting the extreme to of the box or vial, when the skirt is pushe fully onto the body portion 1, which materially lessens liability of accidental displacement or removal of the slip-closure, in use. The disk 4 is of the same material, preferably, as the disk 3, and

disks constructed of the particular 1,4sass4 is adhesively secured to the skirt portion 5, at one end thereof. By reason of the taper of the skirt ortion 5, as described, it is possible to use isks 3 and 4 of the same diameter, thus economizing in the cost of construction.

If desired, instead of using the disk 4, form of disk shown in Fig. 4, havin the peripheral flange 3', may be used; but t 's is not recommended, as the form of disk shown in Fig. 4 is relatively more expensive to make.

The cellulose material, of the particular nature herein mentioned, is unobjectionable, from a sanitary and h gienic stand oint, for use in making food containers, being absolutely harmless to food products, as is evidence by an oiiicial report from the food chemist of the United States De artment of Agriculture, to whom one o my specimen containers has been submitted.

A food container to be used in interstate commerce must have qualities which permit its use in varying climates and atmos heric conditions present in widely srplarate portions of the United States. us, a tine container, which might be suitab e in New England, would not be suitable in the Southwest. Transparent materials, as customarily used for food containers, which will answer for use in a temperate atmosphere, 'will not be suitable in either a very cold or a very hot temperature. The material used b me, as described, for my containers has n subjected to live steam, and also to very cold air, without apparently affecting it. Y

Having thus fully described my invention, it will be seen that I have provided a :food-container, having the attributes particularl described, which has a transparent cylindrlcal body (portion 1 and opaque to and bottom 4 an 3, res ectivellyl', or whici is entirely transparent y uti 'zing disks (constituting top and bottom, '4 and 3 respectively) constructed of the same transparent material of which the body-portion 1 is made.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States is:

1. A food container, composed of a material having the characteristics of extreme transparency, non-brittleness, and non-susceptibility to atmospheric changes, and having a tubular body portion; a slip-closure for the top of said bod portion an comprising a tubular, ta ered sleeve adapted to be slipped on sait? body portion and to constrict the same toward one end thereof, vand a disk adhesivelyfsecured to said sleeve at one end thereof; and a disk adhesively secured at the lower end of said body portlon.

2. A food container, composed of a matethe ceptibility to atmospheric changes, and havone end thereof; and a. disk adhesively Seing a tubular body portion; a slip-closure cured at the lower end of said body portion; for the top of said body portion and comsaid disks being of the same diameter. 10 prising a tubular, tapered sleeve adapted to In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my be slipped on said body portion and to consignature.

strict the same toward one end thereof, and a disk adhesively secured to said sleeve at OTIS EMERSON DUNHAM. 

